West Ham hope to sign the former Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kanté from Al-Ittihad. Negotiations between the two parties are ongoing and there is a willingness to get a deal done on both sides for the 33-year-old who played for France at Euro 2024.

Kanté, who moved to Saudi ­Arabia in 2023 after seven years with ­Chelsea, is thought to be happy with his ­current club but is open to returning to London. West Ham would need to pay in the region of £20m to acquire the midfielder, who proved in ­Euro 2024 that he still has the ability to thrive at the highest level.

The Hammers are eager to sign a defensive midfielder after Kalvin Phillips did not live up to expectations during a loan spell from ­Manchester City last season and his deal was not made permanent. Their new manager, Julen Lopetegui, is a long-term admirer of Kanté’s and wanted to sign the midfielder during his brief spell in charge at Real Madrid. West Ham were previously interested in the Spain midfielder Aleix García but he chose to join the Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.

Kanté enjoyed eight years in England after moving to Leicester from Caen in 2015. He was a pivotal member of the Foxes side that shocked the world by winning the Premier League in 2016, a feat he achieved the following season with Chelsea after a £32m move to Stamford Bridge, where he also won the Champions League, FA Cup and Europa League. He was named the Premier League and PFA’s player of the year in 2016-17.

The midfielder, who has 61 caps for his country, played in all six of France’s games at Euro 2024 but could not help them overcome Spain in the semi-finals. At international level he won the 2018 World Cup and West Ham believe someone of his ­experience would be vital in their new era under Lopetegui, who replaced David Moyes at the end of last season. He would potentially be a fourth addition to the squad after the arrivals of Max Kilman, Luis Guilherme and Wes Foderingham.